Healing George
by eiriel
Summary: Follow George immediately after the Dark Lord's demise and how he will cope with the loss of his twin, best friend and partnerincrime Fred Weasley.
1. Chapter 1

It was like a dream and a nightmare fused into one. Three months had passed, and still he felt the same every morning he woke up. The world around him had been rebuilt like nothing had happened. The rubble, dirty streets, boarded shops and the eerie cold feeling of Diagon Alley had disappeared. It had been changed to what it was before the war. Inside him, the gut-wrenching guilt and the gaping hole of emptiness and misery threatened to consume him all over again. His thoughts were interrupted by the hooting of an owl. Letters from home scattered near the window sill of his room. George Weasley let out a loud sigh. Another day had come.

"Morning, George!" a dark man in burgundy robes shouted as he sprinted towards the counter of a very colorful shop.

George merely nodded at him.

"Not slept well, eh?"

George shrugged, "I'll be in the back in case there would be a problem."

"Okay!"

George disappeared on the curtain at the back of the cash register.

The door tinkled.

"Hey, Lee," a tall and lanky red-haired man entered the shop together with a bushy-haired girl.

"Hey, Ron, Hermione. Going back to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah, but just for the NEWTs. Hermione here had been pestering us to review again and again."

Hermione slapped Ron in the arm lightly, "I only told you twice!"

"Twice….. twice every hour!" Ron huffed.

Lee shook his head while chuckling, "I'll definitely miss you two. So, what can I do for you? Skiving Snackboxes? Trick Wands?"

Hermione got close to the cash register, "We're here to check on George…"

Ron nodded vigorously, "Mum threatened us at wand point that we should go see George…"

Lee rolled his eyes, "He's in the back, same as usual…"  
There was a banging noise in the back room.

"Inventing stuff again?"

Lee nodded.

Ron walked to the back room. He knocked on the door.

"George, it's Ron. Open up!"

The door swung open.

George appeared with soot on his face, "What do you want?"

"Arthur and Molly wanted you to come to dinner tomorrow night."

"What for?"

Ron's face reddened, "What for? What for? We're family, that's what!"

George let out a sigh, "I suppose I could come after I finish with what I'm doing…"

"No, you'll come at six sharp!" Ron exclaimed, "Or we will come and drag you back to the Burrow, if that's what you want!"

George slammed the door on Ron's face.

Ten people stared at the clock that bore many faces.

"Ron dear, maybe he heard wrong. Are you sure you told him it's six o'clock in the evening?" a plump red-haired woman asked.

"Yes, Mum."

"Then what is he still doing at the shop?" she asked once again as she pointed on a face that pointed at "Work".

"Molly, give him time…" Arthur Weasley placed his hand on top of his wife's.

The hand that bore George's face turned to "Travelling", then to "Home".

"Thank, Merlin…" Bill whispered.

A pop was heard outside and someone knocked on the door.

Molly Weasley stood up and opened the door.

"George!" she exclaimed as she held her son tightly in her arms.

"Mum, I can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry…" she let go of her son, "Come on, dinner's already served…"

George looked at the table and found a place to sit right next to Harry.

"Hi, George," the black-haired man whispered.

"Hey," George replied after he sat down.

"Come on, let's eat!" Arthur pointed at the mouth-watering dishes.

After the remnants of pot roast were taken by Ron, Bill got up and cleared his throat.

"I would like to make a very important announcement."

"Go on, son."

"It had been a year since Fleur and I were married," he smiled at his very beautiful wife.

"We all know that!" Ron exclaimed between mouthfuls of potato salad.

Bill smiled, "We thought it was high time for an additional Weasley."

Cheers and pats on the back were given to Bill.

Molly tearfully rushed to her son and daughter-in-law, "This is good news, good news!"

Arthur hugged Bill tightly, "Now you'll know what it's like to be a father…"

Dessert was a very happy affair for the married couple and the other Weasleys, except for one. George sat down on the grass outside the Burrow.

"Thought you would be here," a man's voice said.

"Why aren't you inside celebrating?" George asked.

"I should be the one asking you that…" Harry chuckled as he sat down beside the other.

"How's Teddy doing?"

"I just got back from visiting him at Andromeda's place. He's thriving but a little mischievous. Don't change the subject, George."

George shrugged, "I feel disconnected in a way…"

Harry exhaled loudly, "I suppose so… I couldn't tell you to stop sulking because I think I can understand what you're feeling…"

"Fred and I promised to each other that we'd travel around the world disguised as Muggles after the war. We never thought…." George never finished his sentence.

"Nobody expected it to happen."

"It was just…." George stopped mid-sentence.

"Too soon?" Harry asked, "One thing I have learned from all of this is to live life to the fullest because we live in borrowed time. Who knows, I could get trampled by Grawp or something…"

George smiled, "I think suffocation by Hagrid's hug might be more plausible…"

Harry chuckled, "Probably…"

"Nah, seriously Harry. How do you cope with all of the mess we were in?"

Harry pointed to the laughter inside the house, "Hold on to those people. They will never let you down."

George smiled, "I've been acting like a jerk, haven't I?"

"Ginny had been itching to hex you for some time now…"

"I could sense that… Anyway, I need to go… Let's just keep this conversation between us…"

Harry smiled, "After all, it's not bloke-y to divulge your feelings to others…"

"Bye, thanks again…" George gave a salute and Disapparated in front of Harry.

That night, George Weasley sat down and wrote two letters. One is for his family, and one for Lee Jordan.


	2. Chapter 2

"George, we'd better get going before the sun comes up," a young woman said as she slung a large basket on her shoulder.

It had been almost two years since George Weasley left the wizarding world. He spent the first two months traveling Europe, sending postcards to his family saying he's in a somewhat alright condition. What they didn't know is that he had been living as a Muggle for most of the time.

"Yeah, I'll still deliver these to the distillers."

"I think I'll go with you today."

George rolled his eyes. He had met Olivia at the last leg of his tour. She owned a small flower farm and fruit orchard in the south of France and he managed to end up working with her there. Apart from company, she had been teaching him the finer points of Muggle living such as driving a car and using electrical gadgets and equipment. George was not surprised at his father's curiosity at Muggles after he experienced it firsthand.

"Miscommunication my foot. It wasn't my fault he couldn't understand my French!"

Olivia guffawed at George's rantings as they supervised the workers loading the truck with many more baskets of flowers.

"Maybe it was your pronounciation…. You don't roll your R!"

"Enough lecture, Miss Know-It-All," George opened the door for her, "I'm driving."

Olivia pouted, "It's unfair! I'm driving."

"I drive, you translate. Got it?" George climbed up to the driver's seat.

"Fine."

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"Now that harvest is over, it's time to celebrate!" Olivia said happily as she opened a bottle of wine.

"Nah, you go ahead. I'd better get some sleep…"

"Listen here, Mr. I'm-So-Boring Weasley, we will celebrate whether you like it or not!" Olivia gave him a glass full of wine.

"So what's the story with you?" George asked Olivia when they were already on their second glass.

"What story? There's nothing to talk about!"

"The story of your life before we met."

"Oh that….. erm…. I had a somewhat alright childhood. My father was a perfume distiller. My mother worked at the farm. One day, they were back home in England when they met an accident. I was in boarding school here then. An orphan of age seventeen…. My parents were the only family I ever had."

Olivia took another sip and peered at George, "What about you? What's your story?"

"A very long story…" George looked at his watch, "It's very late. I think we both should go to bed…"

He slowly got up and walked towards the staircase.

Olivia threw the cork at him and slurred, "You're bloody unfair!"

George chuckled, "Get some sleep!"

While he sat on his bed, he pulled the drawer knob and pulled out a picture.

The picture was not like any other picture. The people there were waving at him. When he looked at the red-haired boy who threw his arm around him, a single tear fell down his face.

"Good night, Fred."


End file.
